How to Retrieve a Volume ID From a Drive

By Sam Foner

The Volume ID of a hard drive is a unique identification system. The Volume ID is used by the hard drive to identify itself to both the operating system and the user. Normally, the Volume ID is an eight-digit series of numbers and letters and it will be printed on the hard drive itself. In cases where the hard drive is not easily accessible, such as in a laptop, the Volume ID for a specific drive may also be located through the command prompt.

Step 1

Open the command prompt by clicking on the Start menu, navigating to "(All) Programs," Accessories, then "Command Prompt." Alternately, you may choose the "Run" command, then type "cmd" and press "Enter."

Step 2

Navigate to the drive you wish to identify. If you are looking for the Volume ID of drive X:, you should type "X:" and press "Enter." You may locate the Volume ID from any directory on that specific drive.

Step 3

Type "vol" and press "Enter." The system will check the drive and display the results. The Volume ID, also known as Volume Serial Number, will be an eight-digit string appearing in the format "xxxx-xxxx."